A coherent backscattering contour and time correlations for multiple scattering of light from a half-space

In terms of the Wiener-Hopf method, an exact solution is found to the Bethe-Salpeter equation describing the transfer of multiple-scattered radiation in a strongly inhomogeneous semi-infinite medium with a plane boundary. The solution obtained represents a generalization of the known Milne solution to the case of an anisotropic scattering cross section in the P1 approximation. On the basis of this solution, the intensity temporal correlation function and the coherent backscattering are described. For the temporal correlation function, the initial decay law is shown to be of a universal character in complete agreement with the experiment. The formula derived for describing the angular dependence of the coherent backscattering also leads to a close coincidence with the known experimental data, in contrast to the generally known description based on scaling concepts.